


Where We Belong

by MarzgaPerez



Category: Let Him Go
Genre: Aftermath, F/M, Gen, Healing, One Shot, Post-Canon, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-30
Updated: 2020-11-30
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:13:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27785797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarzgaPerez/pseuds/MarzgaPerez
Summary: A one shot set five years after the end of the film, which is a beautiful and harrowing story of loss and love. Highly recommend this movie!
Relationships: Lorna Blackledge/Peter Dragswolf, Margaret Blackledge & Lorna Blackledge
Comments: 1
Kudos: 1





	Where We Belong

The swirled marbles clack furiously against one another, and a bright-eyed Jimmy shouts in celebration of his winning shot. 

“You beat me again, kiddo,” murmurs Margaret, smiling over her grandson’s delight.

“Just lucky,” he says to console her.

She collects the marbles and readies them for another round, knowing that a distraction right now is a good thing. Jimmy might begin to wonder where his mother has gone off to, or better yet, why she’s been gone for so long.

Or maybe he has some idea of her whereabouts and who she’s with. The boy is bright and observant, like his father was. Maybe it’s obvious that his mother and Peter are out for a walk in the woods and that they’ve taken a liking to each other. 

Margaret always figured such a thing might happen - that the two lost, broken souls would open up their hearts to one another. She’d had the tiniest bit of a premonition, same as that feeling in her gut that told her Peter would eventually come to live on the ranch. 

She remembers far too often the fateful night when her husband George perished at the hands of the Weboy clan. Nearly five years have passed, but Margaret can still feel every bit of it - the pounding of her heart in her throat, the wave of relief that hit her when she’d spotted Lorna and Jimmy free from that house of horrors, the smell of smoke and blood and death when she’d entered the old homestead to search for her husband. And then she’d found George, left for dead, having done everything in his power to give the rest of them a shot at happiness. She’d wept over him as he breathed his last breath, whispered in his ear about happier times, and suddenly, there was someone pulling her away, pulling her to safety from the smoke engulfed room.

It was Peter who’d guided her away from the fire after she’d been the one to drag him into the madness. They didn’t have very long to say goodbye, but Margaret needed him to know that he _did_ have a place in the world.

Despite the mixed emotions of fear and relief and dread from everything they’d just experienced at the Weboy homestead, Peter’s eyes had lit up - even just for that brief second - when he’d unfolded the piece of paper Margaret handed him. She’d said softly, “Come see us. Anytime.” He’d nodded, maybe to be polite, but the seed had been planted and had eventually come to fruition.

It was nearly two years later - when Peter Dragswolf rode into Dalton, looking a little bolder, sitting a little taller upon his horse. Margaret noticed right away that the young man had come into his own, his hair neatly combed and pulled back into a ponytail, his clothing clean and pressed, despite having traveled for miles on horseback. He was still wearing that gentle, crooked smile on his face, but he didn’t seem afraid anymore. 

Peter had planned to stay for the long haul, evident from the multiple bags loaded over his saddle. And there was a place for him as long as he wanted. Lorna approved. Margaret made sure to ask her first - they were partners now. The imbalance of power that once existed between them had settled into a more even divide. They had kept the ranch going with help from a couple of part-time farm hands. Most importantly, their Jimmy was back in his home, young enough that the women who loved him could gently erase the harmful memories from his mind, transform them into remnants of forgotten nightmares, not to fool the boy but to give him peace.

Peter fit right into their little family, mostly taking orders from the women at the start, knowing his place but also knowing they accepted him, appreciated him. Meals were cooked together and eaten together, the four of them at the table, Jimmy taking his father’s spot and Peter taking George’s. Their conversations were sometimes about separate times from their past lives and sometimes about future plans for the ranch but mostly about the present.

They never speak of that night, not between the three of them, not with words anyway. About once a month, Margaret disappears for the afternoon, and Lorna and Peter know exactly where she is - visiting the grave of her son James and the stone she ordered in memorandum for George, catching them up on the latest news and letting them know how fast Jimmy is growing.

Margaret still sees James from time to time, in the wild gallop of an untamed stallion, in the trickling babble of the creek, and in Jimmy’s frequent and infectious smile. George comes to her, too, in whispers and dreams and the crackling of the fire Peter gets going most evenings outside by the barn. The four of them gather around the flames, seated in a circle, at first in silent reverie, and then Jimmy’s chatter - or laughter - breaks the silence. He talks about what happened in school that morning, or what he and Peter came across on their ride earlier in the day, or how Mr. Thompkins, the grocer in town, keeps asking about riding lessons for his granddaughter. 

Margaret feels like George is by her side, listening to the family’s conversations, humming his approval into Margaret’s ear when Peter’s fingers graze over Lorna’s - in the shadows of the flames, quickly, before Jimmy takes notice.

Margaret sees it though. She’s seen the quiet glances the two of them exchange across the yard, and the way Lorna tends to Peter at lunch time, making sure he’s had enough to eat, knowing how hard he labors. 

Lorna knows she knows. The women have learned how to speak to one another without words. And Lorna knows that Margaret approves of the budding relationship. Margaret has learned to trust her former daughter-in-law’s judgement and waits to be asked for advice instead of doling it out freely.

But nothing is easy. Both women have an inkling for what it could mean for Lorna and Peter to go public with their relationship. It’s widely frowned upon for white women to mix with red-skinned men. Hell, there were enough eyebrows raised and tongues wagging when Peter became a permanent fixture on the ranch. So they don’t tell Jimmy yet - or anyone for that matter - because it could mean trouble.

Soon, the women will get around to a much-needed conversation about heading south, selling the ranch and starting over somewhere else. It’s in the cards, hard as it would be for Margaret to leave. But anything is possible once you’ve risked it all and lived to tell about it.

Jimmy shakes his grandmother’s arm, pulling her focus away from the troublesome thoughts rattling around in her mind. “Your turn, Mimi,” he says. “One more round...before they get back,” the boy adds, indeed, knowing more than he lets on. But no hint of worry or concern is in his tone, no sense that anything isn’t just the way it should be.

“I won’t go easy on you this time,” Margaret tells him with a wink. But she probably will. She probably will.


End file.
